Wednesday, July 07, 2010

As I was putting this together I began to wonder. Do fantasy owners get anything out of their players being voted to All-Star teams? I have to admit I get a sort of cheap thrill from it. It feels like a mild validation, especially when the younger guys on my keeper league teams are voted in. I would love to hear your opinions on this in the comments section below.

The criteria I used to put these together involved more than just a list of the best players. It also considered the players that came at a discount or seemed to arise out of nowhere to have great value in the first half. Let me know if you agree with my choices or if you think I'm a blithering idiot.

Time for you to Chime InWho are your all-stars? Who has been essential to your fantasy team that isn't listed above. Are All-Star posts useless on Fantasy Sites? I wanna hear it from you in the comment section.

Another guy who could make the list would be Adam Wainwright. He's been money in the bank. Again though, he's a big ticket item. I'm not a fan of going early with pitching (much to my detriment this year) so I probably would not have landed him had I not kept him in exchange for an 8th rounder.

You might have to find another AL 2B... Cano is out of the lineup tonight with a balky back and has removed himself from the HR Derby (thankfully - I own him in one league). As good as he's been, I don't see the Yanks taking any chances with him next week.

Kinsler instead? His OBP has been surprisingly high, even while his counting numbers have been rather pedestrian. Zobrist hasn't played the majority of his games at second but he could be a good choice as well - more steals and less power than expected.

Yeah I'm counting OBP in my two leagues this year. Even with OBP, Kinsler's been a disappointment for an owner looking for a possible 30-30 guy. Of course I'd also put money on him spending another stint on the DL by season's end. I love Zobrists flexibility and I think his power will pick up.

Speaking of potential 30-30 guys, as a group or best candidates have been really disappointing, haven't they? Just start at the top of any 2010 draft list and the best candidates have disappointed. From Matt Kemp to Grady Sizemore to Kinsler, so many of them have flopped or been injured.

This has definitely been a bad year for the speed/power guys that everyone touted coming into the year. Add Boss Man Jr. to that list. Yeeeech!

Only pleasant surprises on that front (off the top of my head) have been Alex Rios and Krispy Young for 'Zona. Brandon Phillips has been raking too but I don't see him sustaining such a high BA.

For some reason (dubious AVG/OBP I suppose) I tend to shy away from those types of players and go with, mostly plodding TTO power hitters (Willingham, Swisher) and cheap speed that won't hurt my AVG. I try to maximize value and find that many multi-cat, toolsy guys tend to come at too high a price for too little pop.

Going into this season, I had the worst keeper list in the league. Outside of a $5 Niemann, I had Crawford $37, V-Mart $22, Gardner $16, and Cano $26, none of whom were locks to earn profit. In the draft, I managed to snag cheap pitching that worked out beautifully; Carmona $3, Braden $3, Lewis $4, Garcia $2, Rauch $11 (not yet named closer), and Wood $9.

My main strategy is to stand pat unless I'm blown away. Studs like Niemann and Lewis under $5 are impossible to find.

Made one trade, giving up Carmona $3 + Peter Bourjos ML for Gavin Floyd $16 and Luke Scott $18. Scott hit the DL, but Floyd has been lights out for me, putting up these stats in 4 starts since the trade: (28.2 IP, 2-0, 1.26 era, 0.77 whip, 20 K)

Unless another of these types of deals falls in my lap, I'd prefer to finish 2nd and grab next year's title. It's also year one of a 3-year pot.